Post #3: Speech Theories

 

I believe that the speech value of protecting dissent is one of the most important values, especially in today's world. Not everyone in this country shares the exact same views on what goes on in the government and just general daily life things that go on. People in this country are protected under the First Amendment of Freedom of Speech, or so they think they are. Any citizen of this country should be allowed to say anything they want to say about anything that pertains to the government as long as the words being said don't incite violence and threats. People come to the United States of America for the reason of freedom and that very greatly pertains to freedom of speech. In recent times there has been a lot of controversy revolving around social media sites including Twitter and Facebook deleting posts and deleting entire accounts due to 'violation of policies'. These posts and accounts have been deleted for criticizing the government, which the value of protecting dissent should help prevent. A great major example of this is when President Trumps Twitter account was permanently suspended because his tweets were supposedly inciting violence. This action was taken after the storming of the capitol on January 6th, which can be a very controversial topic. During that day, former President Donald Trump posted 25 tweets that day, two of them being, "Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country. Stay peaceful!" and "I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence! Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!" Trump's Twitter account was suspended because his tweets were inciting violence and Twitter didn't want any more tweets to do so. Based off of these two tweets, Trump had tried to prevent any violence to happen on January 6th. It is a true fact that people interpret things very differently, which is why some people chose to believe Trump's tweets were inciting violence. This is why the speech value of protecting dissent can be tricky because people's different opinions can make them think differently about situations which is why some people thought that Trump's tweets were bad and violent inciting. I believe that if someone doesn't clearly say anything threatening or say words like 'kill', or 'punch' or anything along those lines, they should be able to say anything they want. People should be allowed to express what they believe in without getting what they want to say censored. Nowadays if the person in charge doesn't li,e what someone is saying, they will stop what they are saying. This is wrong because everyone has a right to their own opinion as there are millions of opinions in this world which means many people will not have the same one. This is why protecting dissent is a very important speech value.

The speech value of check on government power is very important because we as Americans need to make sure our government is abiding by rules and doing good for our country. We as Americans also need to help make sure the government isn't going against the constitution which is one of the most important documents in the history of the United States. One example of the government trying to push laws that are unconstitutional is when the Biden Administration tried to push vaccine mandate on businesses. The Supreme Court ended up winning the case and it was said that OSHA had exceeded the authority that Congress had given to them. OSHA had been able to even make the case due to their emergency powers, but they still weren't able to win. This is once again based on people's different opinions and of the two Republican and Democrat sides. Nowadays they butt heads so much that they will go to great extremes to win and get on top. The vaccine mandate that the Biden Administration along with OSHA were trying to push for businesses, is a violation people's individual health rights. In my opinion, people should have the right to choose if they want to put certain chemicals in their bodies just like people have the right to choose what they want to eat every day. Personal and health rights are serious matters that the government should not take advantage or control of. Everyone has their own opinion which means they have the right to disagree with mine, but the government trying to take advantage of our personal health rights is outright wrong and goes against what this country was built on. This is why checking on government power is very important, because we Americans need to make sure the powerful government will not take advantage of us and our rights. We are here for the freedoms and the opportunities this country gives us, so we cannot let the government take that away from us.

Post #2: U.S. Supreme Court

 

   

   Something I learned about the Supreme Court that I didn't already know is that they get 100 new cases brought to them every single week but only take 100 in total for the entire year. I think that is insane to even imagine due to the fact they have to sort through all of them to pick the most important ones. I also didn't know the Supreme Court had the abbreviation of SCOTUS before I read the article, which I found the be very cool and interesting.

  I believe the most important take-away point about the Supreme Court is an action that happened in the year 1803. During the case of Marbury vs. Madison, a notable Chief Justice named John Marshall established the Supreme Courts' power to say if the federal laws enacted by Congress were constitutional or not. This is very important because it helps to make sure the court is following what the constitution says which is very important in this country.

   The most surprising thing I learned is that being in the Supreme Court is like being 'struck by lightning. The Justices are said to be scared in a way for either the first 2 years of being a justice or even up to around 5 years. This is surprising to me because even though it is a major deal to be a Supreme Court Justice, I didn't think it would be that nerve-racking for as long as the Justices say it is for.

   The video changed how I thought about the Supreme Court because it made me think more deeply about the court system from the start. It showed how things changed greatly over the years from the start of the court and also showed as much insight and the Justices could possibly give. The video made me realize how much effort it really takes to get a case brought to the Supreme Court and also on the other hand how hard it is for the Justices to sort through all of the cases to see which ones they prove worthy enough to bring to a head and help the issue at hand. When the Justices were saying how it takes years to get used to the job, that shocked me as to what that really means. We don't really know the ins and outs of the system within itself since a lot of things are confidential. With that being said on the surface the job is really hard to attain and even harder to do, but we don't know what on the inside is making the Justices say it feels like a lightning strike. That statement itself, makes alarms go off in my head thinking about what really is going on behind closed doors of the Supreme Court.

Post #1: 5 News Sources

 Instagram 

I have been a user of Instagram since the year 2012. This is the way I keep up with the celebrities I enjoy seeing and hearing about. I follow people who interest me and their posts keep me updated on the news I want to hear about. This includes TV shows having new seasons, brands coming out with new products, and even some juicy celebrity scandals. Just scrolling on my phone for 30 seconds, I can see so many updates on so many people which is very cool. It is an easy and quick way to find out the information you want to know about. I also follow accounts that will update me on important things going on in the world and in the United States, so I can keep up to date about important situations going on.

Youtube 

Youtube is a great source of entertainment as it is an amazing source to get the news you would like to hear about. I personally watch quite a few of the family vlogger channels including, the Labrant Fam and an older one called Bratayley. These channels have daily or weekly vlogs to update their subscribers on what is going on in their lives and show information like family pregnancies or the family buying a new house, etc. Learning about people's daily lives might sound ridiculous, but some things they do in their family life might become of interest to people and they might take upon the action or buy the product they see in one of the videos which to me seems beneficial. Many people also get sports information and regular news information from this website because they subscribe to their personal wants and likes. It is an easy way to keep people occupied while giving them the news that they want.

TikTok 

TikTok is the newest news and social media site as it has been only been around since 2018. It was formerly known as Musically, but the site got bought out, revamped, and blew up to be the amazing platform it is today. While many of the accounts only show careless dancing or singing videos, there are also many that post facts and news about what is going on in the world. I personally get a lot of video pop-ups on my for you page regarding Covid-19 facts, presidential information, and even sometimes weather. The app can also be very addicting due to one short video after another (similar to Vine), so people could end up watching videos for hours at a time. I personally am one of the users who is addicted to the app which some can argue to not be healthy. Although the app does give me very good information as to important topics being spoken about around the world.

Fox News 

My family and I tend to watch the Fox News channel in order to get the major important news we would like to hear about. We enjoy this channel because the anchors who speak at most times of the day, make hearing about the information more eventful and boring. I personally don't usually like watching the news due to it being very boring, but news anchors including Tucker Carlson make watching the news a little more entertaining. Watching this channel has helped me gain information on what is going on in the world that is important to hear about. I believe social media sites fo give good information, but news channels especially Fox gives all of the necessary and important information people need to hear about what is going on around them. Also, Fox News has a website that shows a lot of the stories and topics they cover which is helpful if people don't have the time to sit down and watch TV or a person like me in college who doesn't have cable set up.

Family and Friends

When I am away at HPU, I cannot really sit down and watch the news, so my family is really the ones to relay information to me either over the phone or by text. I believe it is important to stay up to date with what is going on and not be in the college trance. I personally ask my family members for updates they hear about and see, which will help me to get the information that I need. When it comes to my friends, I mostly get updates pertaining to the topic of campus life or something with celebrities. I believe this is important information as well because staying in the loop of life is better than being lost and not knowing what is going on. I always like to be on my feet knowing what to do and knowing the most information I can in order to stay on track and sometimes staying safe.